Primal Gambit: A Free-to-Read Dystopian Novel

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Well-Known Member

A novel I wrote and edited over the past year. I've decided to create a site for it and post chronological chapters week by week. I understand that self-promoting is loathed across the internet, but feel as though this is a solid place to post it. It is heavily inspired by games like Fallout, Metro, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R, as well as dystopian Russian science fiction such as Roadside Picnic. Head over and give the chapters a read. If you enjoy it, make sure to tune in every Sunday as the story unfolds. Don't forget to share, as you guys are the main target audience here. It was written by yours truly, Pip!

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Don't worry about promoting this here, especially since it's free. I had a flick through the site and I love the presentation, however I don't think I'll read it until all the chapters are available, so I can't say what I think about the writing just yet. I don't know why - that's just how I roll for some reason (don't buy episodic games untill all parts are released, prefer comic book compilations instead of single issues, etc.). That and I've also had enough of post-apocalyptic fiction lately since I'm following the Universe of Metro 2033 novels. Good luck with the project though.

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Well-Known Member

Thanks, Bamul! Definitely bookmark the site, so when all of the chapters are up, you can hunker down and start reading. Hopefully by that point, my take on the pre-apocalypse will be a refreshing change for you. You can also follow the link at the bottom and follow the Facebook page for news and updates. And let me say how genuinely jealous I am that you are able to read the Metro Universe Series! I guess I'll have to take up Polish/Russian in the coming weeks.

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Spartan Ranger

Regular

Somehow I ended up reading the latest chapter first and it was only after I reached the end of what I thought to be the first chapter that I realized it was not in fact the first chapter. But after some searching I found the Prologue and read it. I really like the writing and the characters along with overall setting. But like Bamul I'll probably just wait until all the chapters are out before I give it all thorough read.

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Well-Known Member

Thanks for the love! I spent half of today trying to figure out how to reverse the order of blog posts - so that I can put them into chronological order. No such luck, not even with figuring out how to put an archive/table of contents on the sidebar. Oh well, I'll figure something out.

Thanks for reading though. Three new chapters just released this morning!

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Oh yeah, that is also something I was thinking about when looking at the site - it would great to have a list of contents, especially for those who would prefer to wait until it's all out. I hope you find a way.

And about the Universe novels... tbh, at this point I am starting to feel fatigue. We've had 17 of these books published in Poland now - most are novels, a few collections of short stories too (I have read 15 of them). But in Russia I believe there are over 80 of them at this point, and I do believe that the quality has dropped considerably just by looking at the covers; they've went from cool-looking ones to stuff that looks like a cheap photoshop montage. Poland was lucky to get the best of the Russian ones (and of course the Italian one), as well as the fantastic new entries by Polish writer Robert j. Szmidt, but now I feel it is heading in the same direction as the series did in Russia (there's simply too much of it). Fortunately, the covers still look great. However, I guess maybe now would be a good point to change my attitude towards it and start picking and buying what I find interesting instead of following the whole series - especially since it looks like it's only going to grow. From an English-speaker's perspective, on the bright side, if yous ever get any of the books translated it will likely be again the most well-received of the Russian and Polish ones, so all the early stuff should be pretty awesome.

Anyway, sorry for getting a bit off-topic here. Again good luck with the project and please do let us know once you're finished.

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Well-Known Member

My novel has just been published to paperback, for those of you who don't wish to read on a screen/wait for chapters to be released. There is also a Kindle version, if you have the capability and would like to save your bullets!

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Damn, congrats! This is a hell of an achievement man. I might get it too, though I'd have to plough through all the other unfinished books I have on my shelves first. hwell: This stupid habit of not buying more books or games until finishing more previous ones is what's sometimes actually keeping me from getting new stories I'm interested in. Oh well, I will definitely let you know if I do get round to reading it though.

I'm not sure if I shared the news with anyone from the forum about this, so instead of posting a new thread about it I might as well do it here (hope you don't mind Pip): in October 2016 I actually wrote a short story in Polish set in the Metro universe and submitted it to the official contest for Polish readers of the Universe books. The best entries will be published as part of a collection of short stories under the Universe of Metro 2033 label. I don't expect to win or even be in the top few, but it would be an awesome surprise if my story got even as much as a mention so I am waiting for them to announce the winners at the end of this month.

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Tha Baws

I'm not sure if I shared the news with anyone from the forum about this, so instead of posting a new thread about it I might as well do it here (hope you don't mind Pip): in October 2016 I actually wrote a short story in Polish set in the Metro universe and submitted it to the official contest for Polish readers of the Universe books. The best entries will be published as part of a collection of short stories under the Universe of Metro 2033 label. I don't expect to win or even be in the top few, but it would be an awesome surprise if my story got even as much as a mention so I am waiting for them to announce the winners at the end of this month.

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Wow, good luck! With such exeptional writers and hardcore metro-fans such as Pip and yourself, I'm convinced your story will beat all others' just like Pip's book kicks ass